Representation of disability

I have been looking at issues around the way in which disability is presented and represented in TV Dramas. Representation of social groups in our thriller is something we need to make informed decisions about.

Firstly I looked at an article called Unlimited: Disability on screen - BFI.
This article presents the views that the writer believes that the presentation of disabled people in TV dramas is improving significantly. During the Great War, newsreels recorded the rehabilitation of visually impaired and physically disabled servicemen; double-amputee fighter ace Douglas Bader was later immortalised on the big screen. However it said, film has nevertheless provided a catalyst for positive developments in language and social attitudes towards disability - including learning disabilities and mental illness, which endured a troubling history of misrepresentation on screen.
It suggests that the 21st century have made space for strong disabled characters varying from characters suffering from motor neuron disease and obsessive compulsive disorder.

Secondly we looked at an article named Women, old, and disabled still under-represented on TV, says diversity study
This article suggests women and older people are seriously under represented in media. The study of small screen diversity said television was far younger and more male than the population at large, with large gaps in the representation of disabled, ethnic minorities, and lesbian, gay and bisexual people. Men outnumbered women by a ratio of almost 3:2, with women more likely to be aged between 20 and 39 than their male counterparts.

The last article we read was called, Thank you Ricky Gervais, for improving the lives of disabled people
This article was written by a lady with two daughters who suffer from disabilities, here are a few of her thoughts on the disability employment scene created by Ricky Gervais.
Long before disability was a campaigning issue for me I'd found actors playing disabled characters embarrassing. Mimicking disabled people had been pounced on and swiftly dealt with when I was growing up. Yet at drama school this was embraced. To me playing disabled, when not disabled, was as incongruous as being asked to black up. I can't imagine people calling a performance under those circumstances brave or moving or ground breaking, but there we were acting disabled yet simultaneously being told to find the truth in performance.
I hope that my daughter Lizzy, an actor with Asperger's syndrome, will have the same opportunities as any other performer but full representation of disabled people is uncommon in any profession, let alone television or broadcasting.
In advertising, drama series, sitcoms, soap operas or comedy panel shows, disabled performers are notably absent. There are a few disabled characters but fully inclusive casting is not routine. And this is despite there being more than 250 disabled members of Equity, the actors union in the UK.

We will take these points and articles into consideration when we plan our thriller and discuss whether we feel we could address the sensitive subject matters cautiously and thoughtfully in our thriller.